posted on 28th June 2009 under Summer, Travel Norway
Blogging and Social Media is all about connecting with people – all over the world. As a network evangelist, of course I love to meet up with my friends too and had the privilege to meet Charles (The Queer Chef) and his fiancé Odd in Oslo this week. The have been separated for more than the year since the Directorate of Immigration sent him back to the Philippines to apply for a permanent stay. So this was a happy reunion and there was even more to celebrate; they are going to get married!
On their way back to where they live in Bergen, from visiting Odd’s parents and family (living an hour drive south of Oslo), we spend an afternoon and evening together. It was a hot, sunny summer day as the weather has been great for more than a week now; around 30C (86F) and above 20C (68F) at night. Adding to that, you might say it was a perfect reunion atmosphere, since the sun does not set before 11PM 
Of course I gladly take you with and had my Nokia N82 at hand to capture some highlight to share with you.
My regular readers know that I’ve had a lot of post from the capital of Norway, so instead of going into details, I provide you with earlier posts.
Aker Brygge:
It’s a former shipyard area in Oslo harbour, right next to the City Hall and across from Akerhus Fortress. For more details, read my post: Show off your tan at Aker Brygge in Oslo.
Today the docks are said to have the greatest number of outdoor seats in Norway and we sat down for a nice meal (click all pics to bigify & enjoy):
Left: Eating seafood salad. Right: Their wedding present from Diane and me.
The New Oslo Opera House:
It’s the largest single cultural-political initiative in contemporary Norway and the only Opera House where you can walk on the roof. For more details, read my post:
New Oslo Opera House in Norway.
Since they had not had a closer look at this magnificent building, I gladly showed them around:
Left: The Opera. Right: The three of us – the nice girl who shot the photo was obviously shaky
Karl Johan street:
Oslo’s parade street or avenue is always lively on a hot summer day like this and with lots of tourists. It’s in the heart of the city and if you walk it up and down a couple of times (takes 15 minutes), and use it as an anchor, you never get lost in down town Oslo. Along the way, here are some of the highlights and my previous posts for further details:
Grand Hotel where you can enjoy
Jazz Brunch Café every Sunday:
The Parliament by Karl Johan Street:
The
Fountain in front of the Parliament:
The
fountain at the National Theatre station:
The back side of the
National Theatre:
Notice that the last four pics are taken around 9PM and the sun is still shining brightly. I would say it makes perfect atmosphere for a bloggers meeting, don’t you think. Would you like to be next for a free guided tour on a sunny night in Oslo?
Thanks for spending this day with me Charles and Odd and happy marriage! All of you:
Click to visit his blog and send your greetings!
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posted on 26th June 2009 under Culture, Food, History, Travel Abroad
Meat stews, casseroles, steaks, roasted pork, beef, poultry, lamb or game and the Hungarian sausages (kolbász) and winter salami are a major part of Hungarian cuisine and their mixing of different varieties of meat is a traditional feature. Goulash, stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbages or Fatanyéros (Hungarian mixed grill on wooden platter) can combine beef and pork, and sometimes mutton. Also various kinds of noodles and dumplings, potatoes and rice are sometimes served as a side dish. The Hungarian cuisine uses a large variety of cheeses, but the most common are túró (a fresh quark cheese), cream cheeses, ewe-chese (juhturó), Emmentaler, Edam and the Hungarian cheese Trappista.
When my wife Diane and I was in Budapest, we tried some Hungarian cuisine in various restaurant and here are some of the highlights (click all pics to bigify and enjoy):
Some of our starters:
Goulash soup
Left: Goose lever paté & Cheese – Right: Sausages; winter or ‘pick’ salami
Some of the main courses:
Left: Roasted leg of duck – Right: Grilled fillet of pork and bacon
We had our portion of dessert too of course:
Gundel Pancake (pancakes served flambéed in dark chocolate sauce filled with ground walnuts) – delicious! (Sorry, no pics of that).
You can get a decent meal in Budapest from 30€ and upwards and the service is excellent. I hope you’re not the hamburger or fast-food type of person when travelling, because then you’ll miss a lot of the local history, traditions and habits – in Bulgaria particularly!
Budapest’s New York Café:
You find this beautiful café in the ground floor of a luxury
Hotel New York Palace (Hungarian: New York-palota) on the Grand Boulevard of Budapest’s
Erzsébet. Built by an insurance company as a company hall,
New York kávéház was a long time center for Hungarian literature and poetry, almost from its opening on October 23rd 1894:
From the first decade of the twentieth century it became renowned as a real literary café one of the centre of the intellectual life of Budapest; Writers and journalists had their Home Circle here. Shortly after, the editorial office of the highest standard literary periodical of the age “Nyugat” (“West”) found its home here, too.
Gyula Krúdy,
Ferenc Molnár,
Zsigmond Móricz,
Dezső Kosztolányi created their first writings here. This café is also where
Sir Alexander Korda – director of films such as
The Private Life of Henry VIII &
The Thief of Baghdad – started out for his world award winning career, just as
Michael Curtis, Oscar winning director of
Casablanca did too.
Pongrác Kacsó found inspiration in the atmosphere of the Café to compose his famous opera
John the Hero as did
Imre Kálmán the famous operetta composer when creating several of his celebrated pieces whilst seated in the New York.
We had a nice cup of coffee with sweets of course, and here is a glance of the interior:
Left: The Café interior – Right: Roof decoration
Our servings:
Left: Chocolate cake – Right: Cheese cake with apricot jam
In total: 10€
This is the last of five posts from our adventures trip in beginning of June 2009. I hope you enjoyed our guided tour as much as we did when exploring this beautiful city. My wife has posted about it too of course. Click to experience our adventures through
Diane’s eyes!
A collection of all my Budapest posts:
#0: All pics from Budapest at my Flickr account.
#1: Budapest the capital of Hungary in the Heart of Europe
#2: House of Terror and Dohany Great Synagogue
#3: Andrassy Avenue with Heroes Square, City Park and Millennium Underground
#4: Hungarian paradise on Margaret Island and Park
#5: This post
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posted on 21st June 2009 under History, Summer
Today is Summer Solstice; In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year when the Sun is farthest north. In the southern hemisphere, winter and summer solstices are of course exchanged. The declination of the Sun on the (northern) summer solstice is known as the tropic of cancer (23° 27′) north of the equator. North of this latitude are the subtropics and Northern Temperate Zone. The equivalent line of latitude south of the equator is called the Tropic of Capricorn, and the region between the two, centred on the equator, is known as the tropics. The summer solstice marks the first day of the season of summer and I guess this calendar milestone are more marked or celebrated the more north you go. The reason why can be the significant difference of the longest, respectively the shortest days in the season.
Since my blog primarily is about Norway and the Nordic countries and our significant four seasons, let me give you my reflection along with some pictures taken with my mobile phone:
Summer Solstice or Midsummer:
Taken last night at 10:30PM, just before sunset (click all pics to bigify and enjoy):
This is our favourite Ekudden beach in Mariestad, Sweden. We are almost at the same latitude – around 60° – as Stockholm in Sweden or Oslo in Norway and to give you a comparison for North America; as Hudson Bay in Canada.
Today the sun rises at 3:54AM and the sets at 10:44PM which gives us 19 hours of daylight.
Winter Solstice:
This picture is taken the 1st of January this year at 4:30PM – also around sunset:
The same favourite beach, but this time in 5 hours daylight and with a frozen lake.
Enjoying the Midsummer Day:
Since pictures say more than a thousand words, let me give you some more examples from last night and today at Ekudden beach:
Left: A romantic sunset. Right: Enjoying the beach with a nice swim the day after.
Left: Sunset romance. Right: Children jumping into the lake the next day (18C – 65F).
You might wonder why the Scandinavians are so enthusiastic about the beach, tanning and swimming at this time of the year. Well, remember then; about 3 month ago, this lake was frozen and covered with snow. So at that time they were skiing or skating on the very same lake.
Did I say anything about significant seasons and the reason why we are so eager to take advantage of the sun when we’ve first got it?
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posted on 20th June 2009 under History, Travel Abroad
Margaret Island or Margit-sziget is the main local recreation and recuperative centre for the people of Budapest. Thermal springs, feeding the medicinal and swimming baths, space for sports and games, carefully tended gardens and paths, and even the remains of buildings which play a significant part in the history of the town is another must visit in this beautiful city. The island – 2.5km (1 1/2mi.) long and up to 0.5km (1650ft) wide – got its name from the canonized Princess Margit (1252-71), daughter of the Hungarian King Béla IV; as the result of a vow made by her father she became a nun in the Dominican convent on the island.
We spent a whole day there and gladly take you with to some of the attractions. Let’s start with a view (click all pics to bigify and enjoy):
Margaret Island in the middle of Danube with easy access from the famous bridge.
The Music Fountain:
The first you meet is Zenélő szökőkút, a fountain with integrated music and light shows. Could there be anything more recreational:
These young ones have learned to maximise the experience I showed them my blog business card and when I told them the purpose, they willingly posed for me.
Bikes for rent:
Rent a bike if you don’t feel like walking. It’s also a convenient and fun way of exploring the island with kids. You can also rent bringo cart, roller blades, electric cars and motors there:
Plants, fields and playgrounds:
The island gives home to several hundred tree species, bushes, and colourful flowers. The Dominican convent already had a garden in the 13th century for growing herbs. Real landscaping of the island started in the beginning of the 19th century. An English-style park was developed and the planes are at least 150 years old and were planted at that time. Since then they have witnessed many great moments of Margaret Island.
You could really feel recreation in the air and a lot of fun for kids in all ages:
Medieval Ruins:
If you enter form the southern end of the island the first ruins you’ll encounter are the ruins of the Franciscan Priory. They built their convent in the middle of the island towards the end of the 13th century. The buildings were destroyed during the Ottoman rule in the 16th century. The ruins of the Dominican convent from the 13th century are the most notable ruins. King Bela IV founded the convent after the Mongol invasion (1241-42):
Spa Hotel Thermal:
This hotel, completed in 1978, is extremely modern and has become well known far beyond the borders of Hungary. It was designed by the architect G. Kéry and is equipped according to the most recent balneological ideas. To us, this was the high point of the adventure, some relaxing hours at their SPA centre. Diane had a traditional massage, a rest in the salt cavern, and an herbal bubble bath – before going to enjoy the warm spring waters of the hot tub. And for me she recommended Thai massage; a combination of deep muscle massage and yoga, and the best health care experience ever. The masseur used her whole body to stretch out my sore muscles, was very professional and sweet too:
For the purpose of my blog, she willingly posed too
This is my forth post about our adventures in the beautiful city of Budapest. The next and last will be about Hungarian food and some restaurants visits – so stay tuned!
A collection of all my Budapest posts from our trip in June 2009:
#0: All pics from Budapest at my Flickr account.
#1: Budapest the capital of Hungary in the Heart of Europe
#2: House of Terror and Dohany Great Synagogue
#3: Andrassy Avenue with Heroes Square, City Park and Millennium Underground
#4: This post
#5: New York Café and Hungarian cuisine as food traditions in Budapest
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posted on 18th June 2009 under Culture, History, Travel Abroad
Andrássy Avenue – Budapest’s Champs Elysees in Hungary – is an iconic boulevard which links Erzsébet tér (Elizabeth Square) with Városliget (the City Park). Flanked by Eclectic Neo-renaissance palaces and houses featuring fine facades, staircases and interiors, it was recognised as a World Heritage Site in 2002 along with the Millennium Underground Railway. It was decreed to be built in 1870, to discharge the parallel Király utca from heavy traffic and to connect the inner city parts. The construction began in 1872 and the avenue was inaugurated the 20th of August 1867.
We took the underground from Elizabeth Square and with a few stops up and down to the City Park, here is a short guided tour:
Millennium Underground Railway or M1:
This is the second oldest underground line in the world and was built from 1894. It took 2000 workers using up-to-date machinery less than two years to complete it and was built entirely from the surface (with the cut-and-cover method). Completed by the deadline, it was inaugurated on May 2nd 1896, the year of the millennium – the thousandth anniversary of the arrival of the Magyars (click all pics to bigify and enjoy):
With eleven stations, nine underground and two overground, the length of the line was 3.7 km at that time; trains started in every two minutes. It was able to carry as many as 35,000 people a day (today 103,000 people travel on it on a workday).
Andrássy Avenue:
The street’s realization was a blend of the plans proposed by the top 3 competitors Lajos Lechner, Frigyes Feszl and Klein & Fraser. Its palaces were built by the most distinguished architects (led by Miklós Ybl) of the time, financed by Hungarian and other banking houses.
These were mostly finished by 1884 and mostly aristocrats, bankers, landowners and historical families moved in. It was named in 1885 after the main supporter of the plan, Prime Minister Gyula Andrássy. Let me give you a couple examples of the impressive architecture:
The Heroes’ Square:
Hősök tere (in Hungarian) is one of the major squares of Budapest, rich with historic and political connotations. It lies at the end of Andrássy Avenue (with which it comprises part of an extensive World Heritage site), next to City Park. The square is surrounded by two important buildings, Museum of Fine Arts (pic on the left) and Palace of Art (on the right):
The central site of the square, as well as a landmark of Budapest, is the Millennium Memorial – Millennium Monument or Millenary Monument – with statues of the leaders of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the 9th century and other outstanding figures of Hungarian history:
The construction of the memorial was started when the one thousandth anniversary was celebrated (in 1896), but it was finished only in 1929 and the square got its name then.
The City Park:
Let’s end this tour up and down Budapest’s Champs Elysees – its main entrance is Heroes’ Square – to Városliget (German: Stadtwäldchen; literally City Park), a public park of 302 acres or 1.2 km². The first mention of the name comes from 1241 in the archaic form, Ukurföld. In the 18th century the area was called Ochsenried in German. Around 1800 the official name was changed to Batthyány-erdő (Batthyány Forest) after its tenants, the Batthyány family. After the public park was created in the first decades of the 19th century the present-day name, Városliget was accepted. It’s impossible to cover this park’s beauty with just a few pics, but let me give you a few examples:
Left: Entrance of a fortress. Right: The Anonymous’ statue
Of course in a place like this – perfect for recreation – you find The Széchenyi Medicinal Bath in Budapest (Széchenyi-gyógyfürdő) – the largest medicinal bath in Europe. It might not look like that from the entrance (but again shows beautiful architecture):
However, once inside, you see the pool. Its water is supplied by two thermal springs; their temperature is 23C (74F) and 25C (77F), respectively:
This is my third post about our adventures in the beautiful city of. I hope you enjoy this as much as I love sharing it (and that I don’t warn you out!). The next once will be about Margit recreational island and even to some restaurants – so stay tuned!
A collection of all my Budapest posts from our trip in June 2009:
#0: All pics from Budapest at my Flickr account.
#1: Budapest the capital of Hungary in the Heart of Europe
#2: House of Terror and Dohany Great Synagogue
#3: This post
#4: Hungarian paradise on Margaret Island and Park
#5: New York Café and Hungarian cuisine as food traditions in Budapest
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